Jannik Sinner Elena Rybakina Open de Australia 2027

The new director of the Australian Open causes a stir: confuses the names of Sinner and Rybakina

Carlos Navarro - 8 Oct 2026
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Andrew Abdo messes up.

Andrew Abdo. Remember that name well, because everything indicates that he will give us many articles and news... although not necessarily good ones. We are talking about the new director of the Australian Open 2027, the man tasked with filling the void left by Craig Tiley, who jumped to the U.S. Federation in search of new goals. We do not know if he has left the tournament in the best hands, although there have been several interventions that continue to make a lot of noise on social media.

The first pearl he left us at the time was that remark about the controversy with the format of the Australian Open, suggesting the option that in the future the tournament could be played as the best of three sets instead of best of five. It was certainly not the brightest idea, and it provoked reactions from many fans of the sport. Today, however, Mr. Abdo has outdone himself, perhaps demonstrating that tennis is not his area of greatest expertise... confusing the names of Jannik Sinner and Elena Rybakina.

This is how the Australian Open director messed up with Sinner and Rybakina

In an open presentation to the press of the first Grand Slam of 2027, Abdo, still in his early days in the role, praised the context of new rivalries in the men's and women's circuits... but boy, did he miss the mark. He called Sinner "Jacob" and changed the last name of the Kazakh to "Robakina" (this doesn’t sound bad if we ever discover a dual role as a robber, it must be said), in a video that is already circulating on social media and has even infuriated some fans.

It is worth noting that Abdo is by no means from the world of tennis. Tennis Australia chose him to lead a monumental project due to his experience in other fields, not for his resume in the tennis world: he was previously the CEO of the Australian Rugby League, in addition to having worked as a financial advisor at Deloitte Australia. We will see if he adds new tennis knowledge to his repertoire along the way.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El nuevo director del Open de Australia la lía parda: confunde los nombres de Sinner y Rybakina